Lunar Ale | Boulevard Brewing Co.

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Notes / Commercial Description:
Our first new year-round beer since 1996, Lunar Ale is in a category all its own. Brewed using a unique aromatic yeast, this refreshing variety is best described as a cloudy brown ale with a complex, malty aroma and flavor, and a crisp, dry finish.

Reviews by scottblaze:

Whoa...an ambitious pour resulted in a frothy overflow, retention only fair, lacing not much to brag about, hazy brown. Floral and molasses notes in the nose. Taste is malt, hint of vanilla and biscuit finishing a little thin. Mouthfeel not much, Drinkability is ....so so.

More User Reviews:

12 oz bottle from a sampler box, pours a body colored like iced tea. Small khaki head leaves some skimpy lace. Aroma of clove, pepper, banana, and crackery wheat. Mouthfeel is on the lighter side and overcarbonated. Taste is clove and pepper with notes of banana, coriander, yeast, and wheat cracker. Drinkable enough, but the body could use more substance and less carbonation.

Stubbie bottle poured into a pint glass. Gift from my baby brother had held onto knowing I had never tried.

What is the difference in this and a dunkelweiss again? Oh wait complexity and spice character. This is a perfectly tasty accompaniment to the Golden Rule barbecue I enjoyed with it, outside of that meh.

The Boulevard Brewery hosted a happy hour for the local KC chapters of the AdClub and PRSA, and opened up the Boulevard bar at their new event space above the brewery. I had one pint glass of Lunar before drinking anything else, but I didn't take notes. This will be from memory.

The glass was handed to me with a light head of cream-colored, fat-bubbled froth that dispersed quickly. The beer was murky, and in color and consistency, reminded me of unfiltered cider. It smelled strongly of malt, and the first sip had a definite bite to it, with a definite carbonation, followed by a sweet tang. I couldn't place the flavors at all, and somehow it seemed an unexpected combo. The tanginess reminded me of cilantro, or maybe cloves, and the sweet seemed a bit fruity. A friend with me insisted that there was a banana flavor underneath it all, but I can't agree.

I am a huge fan of browns, and Boulevard, but this seemed a strange combination. It may be a good summer beer, when served ice cold, but it wasn't what I expected. I'll stick to stockpiling the Irish Ale while it is available, to enjoy beyond March.

My 100th brewery! Boulevard is new to this area and I just started seeing it this week. I picked up a mixed 12 pack with 6 varieties.

Best before 08/30/09

Pours into a pint glass with hazy brownish orange color. Thin head is fleeting.

Aroma is sweet but mild with a slight fruity ester to it.

The flavor agrees with the aroma. This almost tastes like they used a Belgian yeast strain! Mild dark fruits and a slight spicy note carries the beer from start to finish. Slightly sweet up front but finishing a little more dry. Not especially bitter but well balanced nonetheless. It's basically a weak Belgian dark ale.

Pours a muddy milk-chocolate brown with a thin head. Aroma is the best aspect though, with a vinous quality...also dark raisins, brown sugar, some doughy yeast coming through. A little banana and even more as it warms.

Underwhelming flavor, but certainly not awful. Mineral and soap are negative traits, with nutty yeast and pumpernickel doing some good for this beer. Soft banana comes through, but it's subtle. Overcarbonated and fizzy--didn't like the mouthfeel a whole lot, especially considering the style. A bit of soapiness returns in the finish.

Not overly attractive, this is yet another so-so Boulevard beer, nothing more or less.

A - A tan two finger head tops this purplish brown brew that shows ruby highlights. This one is slightly hazy, and leaves a small amount of wet foamy lace on the glass. The head quickly recedes to a fat collar with some haze in the middle. A swirl brings back a thick finger. It has that dirty brown water Belgian quad/BSDA look going on.

S - Smells yeasty and Belgian as hell. Citrus fruit and banana leaves, along with deep yeast notes and some very rural weedy grassy hops. A dark witbier?

T - Tastes like a wit on 'roids. Juicy and acidic orange juice citrus flavors along with some really nice doughy yeast and nutmeg spices. For some reason it doesn't really taste "dark" if that means anything (i.e. no chocolate/coffee/dark-fruit/toffee, ect). I tastes like a combination of a really strongly flavored wit and a BSPA.

M - This really coats the mouth with a layer of solid yeast funk! I like it! It's slick and medium bodied, but still light and bouncy with citrus zest and sparkling carbonation. The finish is tart and sweet like orange juice.

D - A great late summer night session brew. Dusky, a little bit warming, but also very fresh, fruity, and quenching.

The Lunar pours a hazy, copper-colored brew with big white head that was off-white in color. The smell was very clovey-wheat aroma, yeasty with some bready character. The taste was big on wheat grain taste, slightly bready-sweet, with some yeast-influenced spice. Hints of toasty bread. No perceptible bitternes. The mouthfeel was decent light body, high-level carbonation, though not out-of-line for a wheat beer. Overall a decent beer.

A: Came out hazy and brown, literally. Off-white head dissipated rather quickly.

S: Notes of soft caramel and toffee, as well as overripe dark fruits, especially raisins. Similar to some Belgian brews I enjoyed recently. Pleasantly surprised.

T: Again, a modest fruity sweetness up front, with a little wheat twang. Soft spice notes come through as well. Flavors become more well-rounded as the brew warms.

M: Bordering on a medium body with decent carbonation and a rather thin finish. Aftertaste is sweet and fruity.

D: The aforementioned characteristics make this an all-weather brew and easily sessionable.

Not bad at all. Were the body a bit heavier and the flavors deeper, this could easily be mistaken for a good Belgian ale. A very interesting endeavor from Boulevard. I would rank this one about third among their year-rounders, behind their pale ale and porter.

I'd say this could also qualify as a dunkelweizen for all the yeast character. The malt falls a little flat with a mix of roasted wheat and light cocoa barley. The aroma is full of yeasty, spicy notes with a bit of citrus. These carry over to the flavor, but in a diminished role. Basically this beer needs to turn up the flavor a bit, otherwise it's pretty decent.

Aroma is pretty nice and typical with banana, clove, and malty sweetness.

Flavor starts off decent, with caramel malt, banana, and clove. Nothing special, but all right. Then a weird off-flavor hits on the finish: something fairly acrid and mildly vegetal, possibly DMS. This lingers on the aftertaste.

Palate is somewhat thin and watery for the style.

Overall, a somewhat boring and slightly flawed example of the style. Would be good for someone like Indian Wells, but is a disappointment coming from Boulevard. Drinkability is not bad though despite this.

Sample bottle provide by a brewery rep Lunar will be released to the public in April 2007.

Slightly hazy, coppery-brown in hue with a slight ruby twang; off-white head, at the apex the foam was only a half finger tall. The bubbles subsided to a moderate, soapy cap. No subsequent lacing. Bummer. Overall, the appearance is slight above average nothing more.

The nose shows intimations of a Dunkelweizen; I detect some cloves, pepper, and bubblegum. There are some bready notes, some wheat too (?) toasty caramel and hints of toffee. It is neither fruity nor hoppy. Moderate potency; the nose is a cross between a Brown Ale (minus the fruitiness) and Dunkelweizen (minus rich yeasty aromas). Decent bouquet; inviting I guess it is fairly straightforward though.

The palate matches the nose almost exactly; malty, bready notes roll throughout and I enjoy them quite a bit. I am a fan of Brown Ales and I like this aspect of the flavor profile. Hints of cloves arrive in the middle as does a flash of pepper and bubblegum (quite faint). Otherwise it has clean, straightforward flavors tasty but it really isnt that special. Mainstream drinkers welcome here.

About medium in body; low but natural carbonation, the mouthfeel is fits this beer well enough.

Drinkable it is. Is it worth buying a six-pack of once it is released? I doubt it. There is a dearth of Brown Ales in Nebraska but this really isnt what I want in the style. At first I was excited to hear that Boulevard was releasing a bottle conditioned Brown Ale (hear that Empyrean!) but then I heard it was a cross between a Dunkelweizen and a Brown Ale. Okay... odd, I thought but it could be good. Sadly, the early feedback I received was lukewarm and now that I have finally tried it. It was so-so. Maybe Boulevard can pickup a few Newkie Brown drinkers or something but beer geeks will see this as a sign that Boulevard is stuck in a rut. Maybe (god I hope) the new 750ml beers will be great. Cheers to new beers.

Pours a cloudy light brown with a small white head. Retention is good with lots of sticky lacing.

The smell is a bit subdued and the aromas I do get are not that great. Mostly yeast with a little cloves.

The taste is what surprised me. The yeast adds a nice spice to counter the fruityness of the malt. I think it is well balanced and delicious. It leaves a bit of a cloying aftertaste though. The body is light and with the low ABV makes this a good session beer.

A: Pours a dark cherry wood brown with a one and a half inch bone white head with some frothy lacing that clings to the side of the glass.

S: Good and strong sweet wheat aroma, clove, banana, slight cherry in there as well along with some other mellow spices all quite mellow and all in check.

T/MF: Watery banana bread with a slight nuttiness, this beer really wants to be something but just falls flat in the mouthfeel and flavor department. Finish is strangely drying sort of a grainy consistency mouthfeel wise, not smooth at all as I would expect a wheat beer to be.

D: Not offensive, just does not seem to match up with the style guidelines very well, I would reach for something else if it were up to me, which it is.